The Great Mom Debate: Will You Let Your Kids Gorge on Halloween Candy? Why Dentists Say You Should
By Charlotte Hilton Andersen, REDBOOK
Congratulations, it's Halloween! You've successfully run the gauntlet of compromising with your child on their costume, deciding whether to make or buy your kid's costume, buying candy or health snacks for the big night, and eleventy million class parties that you may or may not have signed up to volunteer at on Back-To-School Night in hopes that would make the teacher like your kid better! (It's been two months since I saw those sign up sheets. I can't even remember if I put on mascara this morning.) Time to sit back, put your feet up and help yourself to a Butterfinger or two, right? Not yet, you've got one last Mom hurdle to jump: what to do with all that loot.
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While others have suggested "buying" the candy off your kid with a new toy or selling his or her candy to a dentist - a buck a pound is a good deal! - or donating it to troops overseas or to a food bank, if your kids are anything like my kids they will go ballistic if you try and take away all their hard-earned sugar. The question then becomes, to binge or not to binge?
Surprisingly many dentists are telling parents to let their children binge on their candy saying, " If you're going to eat candy, gorging is far better for your teeth than rationing." They add that chocolate is better for your teeth than "healthier" baked chips, pretzels and fruit leather. But what about their waistlines? Some experts say that letting kids binge for one evening and then chucking (or donating) the rest of their candy gets it out of their systems faster and doesn't get them in the habit of eating a mini candy bar every day.
On the other hand bingeing seems so counter-intuitive. As an adult I've had times where I've eaten way too much and it makes me feel awful. Why would I want to encourage that type of eating with my kids? Wouldn't allowing them to have one or two pieces a day (from now until the 4th of July - our neighbors are very generous) teach them moderation?
How do you deal with Halloween candy? Take our poll!
- I let them gorge for one night then get rid of the rest.
- I let them pick 25 pieces to keep and then dump the rest.
- I give them their bag and let them do what they want.
- We sell it or donate it.
- I keep their candy and ration it out a piece at a time.
Vote here.
Read more of Charlotte on Redbook's The Motherboard blog.
Charlotte Hilton Andersen is a mom of 5 and the author of the book The Great Fitness Experiment: One Year of Trying Everything and the blog of the same name.
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